We don’t have to believe that Apple will make our lives better, cooler, more beautiful. We don’t have to watch the Harry Potter movie (the last one was kinda lame) or every blockbuster that comes out. We don’t have to believe that Victoria’s Secret and H&M will make us sexier, or that we need Lululemon or Gap Body to get fitter, or that we need designer water or Starbucks coffee or Powerbar for health or nourishment, or that we need Bud Light or Heineken to have fun (or get girls).

This pretty much sums up how I feel about advertising and consumerism today. I don’t claim to be immune to it, and I’m certainly influenced by advertising, but realisation is the first step to solving a problem.

Whenever you feel the pull of consumerism, simply ask yourself the shortened version of this thought, “What might I be able to do if I didn’t make this purchase?”

Every purchase contains an opportunity cost. The question, “But what if I don’t?”, forces us to recognize and articulate it.

I think most of us don’t really stop to think the amount of effort needed to actually acquire the money in our wallet, or in the case of credit cards, the amount of effort that will be needed in order to pay the bill that will arrive in the upcoming statement.

I believe if I actually take the time to stop and think about it, we’ll drastically reduce the number of frivolous purchases that we make.

A few days ago, Evernote announced a pretty significant price/plan change. To overly simplify the changes, you’re basically encouraged to upgrade to a paid plan, which now costs more as well.

I don’t have any objection to paid plans, after all, they need revenue in order to stay in business, but the product itself hasn’t changed or improved much over the years. Colin posted some good thoughts on this.

A while back, it deteriorated significantly that I started to switch away, but say what you will about Evernote, but depending on your use case, it’s hard to find a decent competitor.

Key features of Evernote I need (without taking into account stability etc) are:

Web clipping

Note links

Offline notes

Rich content notes

While the alternatives out there like Apple Notes, Microsoft OneNote do a great job, they’re all lacking a little in specific areas, which really makes it hard to leave Evernote.

Looking forward, I’m hoping Evernote continues to improve its product and service (which does seem to be happening) to justify the new price tag. Though at the same time, I hope some decent alternatives start to crop up. Competition is always good.

Side note: On the basis of pure text notes, Simplenote is the undisputed king for me.